Meet history-makers during free tours of B.C.’s iconic legislature building
VICTORIA — Mary Ellen Smith appears unannounced at the chamber gates and recounts the historic moment in 1918 when she rose to speak in the legislature as British Columbia’s first elected female provincial politician.
“My heart was beating so loudly in my ears I could hardly hear myself think,” says actor Madeleine Humeny, wearing a period costume featuring a long, dark dress and bonnet during a free guided tour of the iconic political building that dominates the landscape of Victoria’s Inner Harbour.
“We were just the right women at just the right time and in just the right place,” says Humeny, who remains in character to explain Mary Ellen Smith’s pivotal role in leading the struggle for women’s rights in B.C., and ultimately the right to vote in 1917.
Smith, who became Canada’s first female cabinet minister, introduced legislation guaranteeing minimum wages for women and advocated for the rights of single women and children.